Research on the Relationship between Nurses' Compliance with Standard Precautions, Servant Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion:a Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Abstract

Background: To prevent and control nosocomial infections, it is important to improve nurses' compliance with standard prevention techniques. Nurses' emotional exhaustion has increased in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is crucial to pay attention to the impact of emotional exhaustion on compliance with standard prevention compliance from the perspective of organizational leadership. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the effects of service-oriented leadership on nurses' emotional failure and compliance with standard prevention and to explore the moderating effect of individual resilience. Methods: A convenience sampling method was used to collect questionnaire data from 924 clinical nurses in a third-class general hospital in Chongqing, China. A linear mixed model in SPSS 25.0 was used for multilevel regression analysis of the mediating role of emotional exhaustion on servant leadership and standard preventive compliance. PROCESS was used to further test the moderating role of individual resilience. Results: The emotional exhaustion score (27.42±11.77) was at the general level, and standard preventive behavior compliance (11.41±5.01) was at the general level. Servant leadership mediated by emotional exhaustion had a significant positive predictive effect on standard prevention compliance, and the indirect effect accounted for 23.8% of the total effect. Personal resilience played a negative moderating role in the relationship between servant leadership and emotional exhaustion. For nurses with low resilience, servant leadership had a greater impact on emotional exhaustion. Conclusion: The current standard prevention compliance for clinical nurses is not high due to emotional exhaustion. The level of servant leadership can alleviate nurses' emotional exhaustion and improve compliance with standard prevention. Especially for nurses with low personal resilience, the care and support of department leaders are needed. Key Words: Compliance with standard precautions by nurses, Servant leadership, Emotional exhaustion, Resilience